Before She Comes Home
by xxyou're the music in mexx
Summary: Gabi is working late and Troy looks after his daughter and triplet sons. When he realises Gabi's coming home soon and the house is a mess, can he rally the troops an get the place sorted out in time? TxG


**A/N**

**Just a one-shot I had an idea about. Review and tell me what you think! x**

"KIDS! DINNER'S UP!" Troy yelled into the living room.

Going back to his sauce, Troy flicked the gas off and poured the bubbling liquid over the five different pasta bowls.

"What is it?" 7 year old Chase asked, taking his seat.

"Yeah, it smells funny" Beau added, wrinkling his nose.

"Shut up and sit down, it's my speciality" Troy said grinning.

"By speciality you mean the only thing you can cook" his daughter and eldest child, Isabella said, walking into the room.

"Watch your mouth, this is top quality nosh" Troy said, in a fatherly tone, "where's triplet number three?"

"Engrossed in The Simpsons" she said simply, grabbing the water jug and sitting in her place.

Troy sighed, put down his fork and made his way to the front room, where he found Rowan exactly where Isabella said he would be.

"Ro, dinner...now"

"5 minutes" he whined, not tearing his eyes from the screen.

Troy huffed, grabbed the remote and shut it off.

"Dinner, now!"

Rowan pulled a face but did as his Dad said.

"Now...isn't this nice?" Troy asked, smiling at his kids.

Isabella pulled a face.

"Dad, we do this every day, it's nothing special"

"It is, I did this without your mother, everything's going perfectly"

"Yeah, except when Mom's here, the house is tidy, the triplets don't watch T.V until _after _their homework, the food is actually edible and the dog's fed too so it doesn't jump up at the table"

As if to make a point, Nemo the dog, appropriately named as he seemed to think he was a fish, jumped onto Troy's lap with his mouth gaping open.

"Nemo!" Troy groaned, shoving him off.

"Chase, go feed him"

"Why me!"

"'Cause you're the oldest, now"

"I'm not the oldest! Bella's the oldest!"

"You're the oldest triplet, now go!" Troy told him, wiping the hairs off his shirt.

Chase got up sulkily and grabbed Nemo's collar, dragging him into the kitchen.

"Back to your point, the house is tidy thank you very much"

Isabella rolled her eyes.

"Except you can't see the playroom floor for all the junk in there, there's toothpaste and shaving foam all over the bathroom mirror, the couch in the guest room has been flipped on its side to make a fortress, Power Rangers is blaring from Rowan's TV, Beau's room is covered in wet dog hair and the broken crayons and paint pots in Chase's room are growing mould..."

Troy grimaced at how much there was to do as the triplets grinned, showing off their toothy smiles.

"And I suppose your room looks like it came out of a magazine?" he said sarcastically.

"Actually-" she began, only to be cut off by the phone ringing.

"I'll get it" she said, walking over.

'Bolton Residence, Isabella speaking'

'Bella! It's Mom, how is everything?'

'Funny you should ask Mom...' she started, before Troy wrenched the phone from her grasp.

'Hey Gabs' he said, breathing heavily.

'Troy, what's going on? Why are you panting?'

'No reason, Nemo's just giving me the run around'

'Did you give him his tablets? He has to have them before 6 every day'

Troy glanced at the clock, it was 6.30. _Shit_.

'Yeah, of course I have'

'How are the boys? Are they behaving? You didn't let them watch television did you? They'll never do their work if you do'

'No, no, they've done all their work, I helped them. Everything's done'

'Oh. So you made the Chase's Solar System Model? And Rowan's finished his drawing of the Parthenon?'

Troy winced.

'Uh...yeah, sure'

'And Beau finished his story on the family?'

'Yep, yeah, I think so, definitely'

'Great! Well done babe, that means I can have you all to myself tonight' she said, seductively.

In any other situation, Troy would have relished the thought, but knowing how much there was to do, he really wasn't in the mood.

'Yeah, what time are you getting home again?'

'The conference should be finished at 9, so around half past I guess, can you wait that long?'

_I need that long_.

'No, but I'll cope'

'Okay honey, send my love to the boys and Bella, I love you'

'Love you too'

"Right, everyone finished?" he asked, walking into the dining room.

"No"

"Great, put your dishes in the sink"

"But-"

"Rowan, you're on washing duty, Chase, you're on drying, Beau put away and Bella clear in here."

"Worried Dad?" Isabella asked sweetly.

"Your mother sends her love" he replied, "Everyone to action stations!"

The boys rushed excitedly to the sink, enjoying the authority they had.

"And what are you gonna do?" the fifteen year old asked, smirking and crossing her arms.

"I" Troy told his daughter, kissing the top of her head, "Am going to clean the bathroom, the guest room and Beau's room"

* * *

_30 minutes later_

"EVERYONE IN THE KITCHEN NOW!"

The family, minus Gabriella, assembled in the said place.

"Now, we have 2 hours and 15 minutes to get this house perfect. We need all hands on deck. Beau, your room is done, the bathroom is spotless, the guest room is clear. Triplets, what is your task?"

"To tidy the playroom Sergeant!" Chase said, saluting his father.

"And?"

"Wash the dog Sergeant!" Beau added, mimicking his brother.

"And?"

"Get our bedrooms done Sergeant!" Rowan said excitedly, copying his older brothers.

"In what time?"

"Half an hour Sergeant!" they cried in unison.

"Correct, now, if any of you die out there...I want you to know, you'll have made your family proud and brought honor to your name"

Isabella rolled her eyes and sighed, picking her nails.

"Corporal Bella! What is your mission?"

"To find a new family" she muttered.

"I repeat, what is your mission?" Troy asked, grinning.

"Help Beau with his story and do my math homework" she said, before stalking off.

"What are you gonna do Daddy?" Rowan questioned.

"Well little fella, I'm going to do Chase's solar system, then when you've finished, help you with your drawing, then we should be done"

"Awesome"

"Troops at the ready?"

"Yes Sir!"

"March!"

The three brothers ran in separate directions, minds on the task, all eager to get theirs done first.

"Right, solar system...how the hell do you make a solar system?" he mumbled, looking for supplies in the kitchen cupboards.

* * *

_1 hour later_

"Rowan, why are you soaking wet?" Troy questioned, looking at his son while trying to fit a golf ball on stick.

"I was washing Nemo"

"In the bath?"

"No, with the hose in the garden, he's drying off"

"Ok, good boy...BELLA!"

"What?" she asked with attitude.

"Run a bath for your brother, has Beau done his story?"

"Yes, do you want to read it?"

"I haven't got time, there's so much to do"

"Suit yourself"

"Oh, and Belle? Beau needs a bath too, and they need to get in their pajamas"

"What about Chase?"

"I'll sort him out when we've finished up here" he responded, indicating the almost finished Solar System.

"Anything else? I have homework as well you know!" she snapped.

"That's it, but you're a clever girl, like your Mom, you'll be fine"

Isabella hesitated for a moment, opening her mouth to say something, before deciding against it and taking Rowan's hand, dragging him up the stairs.

"Dad? How many planets are there?"

"I don't know! It's your project!"

"Um, 20?"

Troy laughed, "I don't think there are 20"

"Well how many then?"

"BELLA!"

"WHAT!"

"HOW MANY PLANETS ARE THERE?"

"LOOK ON ROWAN'S POSTER IN HIS BEDROOM!"

"Be right back little buddy" Troy said, ruffling his sons hair.

"What should I do?"

"Keep painting the sun"

"We've done the sun"

"Then paint Jupiter"

"We've done Jupiter"

"The paint Saturn"

"We've not made Saturn yet"

Troy took a deep breath and counted to ten slowly.

"Just wait then, I'll only be a couple of secs."

"But Dad!"

"What Chase...what?"

"It's bed time!"

"Since when have you ever wanted to go bed on time?"

"I have sports day tomorrow. You said you'd run with me in the Dad and Son race, I need to sleep so I can practice in the morning"

"Fine. Come one, you ask Bella to give you a bath and I'll finish your model"

"Thanks Dad"

Troy sighed as he walked back down the stairs.

"No worries" he yawned.

_Is this really what Gabi has to deal with every day?_

"No wonder she never has time for sex anymore" he muttered.

* * *

_9 o'clock_

Troy yawned as he added the final touches to Chase's science model. It turned out there were 9 planets, 8 technically because Pluto wasn't officially a planet anymore, but Troy added it anyway, figuring Chase could always pull it off if he had to.

"Dad?"

"What's up Bella?" he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"I..uh...can we talk?"

Troy sat up straight at his daughter's worried tone.

"Sure, what's wrong sweetheart?"

"I'm...I uh..."

"Oh God, you're not pregnant are you?" he asked, fear etched across his features.

"No! No, absolutely not, I've never-I mean, I haven't even-no, I'm not!" she stuttered.

Troy breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back.

"What is it then?"

"I'm not as clever as you think I am"

"What?"

"You always make me out to be an Einstienette, I'm not a genius Dad, I'm not as clever as Mom was at my age, I'm not top of my class...I'm just, average. I'm normal. And tonight I really needed to focus on my math coursework but because of your cleaning regime I haven't had time and I was bathing my little brothers when I should have revising and now I'm stuck because it needs completing for tomorrow and I need to sleep because I have a test in the morning and I can't figure this equation out and it's really hard and-"

"Woah, slow down Bella. I hear what you're saying and I'm sorry I always put so much pressure on you. I guess it's because you remind me so much of your mother. It's wrong and I'm sorry."

Isabella smiled at her Dad and ran into the hug he was offering.

"Now, go fetch this homework and I'll see what I can do"

"Thanks Dad"

Troy glanced at the clock as she left and heaved a sigh, 9pm and he hadn't stopped. He felt sorry for Gabriella who did it on a regular basis.

"Ok, so it says 'what is the force required to keep a 550 pound motorcycle from rolling back down a hill that is at a 14 degree angle?' It's got something to do with vectors"

Troy nodded although he hadn't a clue what the hell vectors were.

"Maybe your Mom would be better at helping you with this" he said.

The phone rang.

'Hello?'

'Troy? It's Gabs. The conference is running late, I'm not gonna be home until at least 10:15, I'm sorry baby'

'It's fine Gabi, its fine. I'll see you when you get back'

'I love you'

'I love you too'

"Was that Mom?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah, she's not back 'til late, I guess it's just you and me"

"Do you know how to deal with these kind of questions?"

"No, but I figure if we look it up and stick at it we'll do it together"

Isabella smiled at her Father, and they set to work.

* * *

_50 minutes later_

"So the force of the motorcycle is 550 pounds straight downward. Because the motorcycle is resting on a 14 inclined plane, the 550 pound force must be broken into its "x" and "y" components to calculate the force parallel to the inclined surface. If we let "x" be the force along the inclined plane, and "y" be the force perpendicular to the inclined plane and sin (14 degrees) x / 550 and x 133.057 pounds, the force pulling the motorcycle down along the inclined plane is approximately 133 pounds?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah. An equivalent force needs to be applied in the opposite direction (uphill) to prevent the motorcycle from rolling down the hill. You reckon that makes sense?" Troy asked.

"Looks good to me. Thanks Dad, you're the best!"

"No problem sweetheart, now bedtime, off you go"

"Night, love you"

"Night Bella, love you too"

Troy cleared away the mess and had a quick look around the house, everything was tidy, lights were off, all children were in bed.

Now all he had to do was fix some food for his undoubtedly starving wife.

The only thing he could cook was pasta though, and they didn't have any left.

Picking up the phone, he dialed a much loved take-out service.

'Papa Mario's Italian Diner and Take-Out. Paula speaking, how may I help you?'

'Hi, can I order a take away please?'

'Of course, what would you like to order?'

'Can I have the spaghetti and meatballs, the garlic bread with mozzarella, the fully loaded potato skins and…the parmesan breadsticks'

'Do you have an account with us?'

Troy smiled slightly, did they have an account? The only ordered there every Friday without fail, of course they had an account!

'Yes…Bolton, Troy and Gabriella'

'It's not a Friday Mr. Bolton'

Troy laughed.

'No, but my wife's late coming home and I know she'll be hungry, I can't cook either'

'You're order will be with you in 20 minutes'

'Great, thanks'

Troy set the two plates out on the dining table and lit the centre piece candles, placing the cutlery and glasses of wine in their correct place.

"Daddy?"

He knew it was Rowan before he even turned round. Rowan was the only child left that called him Daddy, he was the youngest of the triplets, Beau being 5 hours older and Chase 2 hours above that.

"Yes Ro-ro?"

"I had a nightmare" he whispered, wringing his hands together and toeing the carpet.

Before Troy could say anything Rowan burst into tears.

"Rowan! Come here, it can't be that bad son"

"I wet the bed!" he wailed, "and Mommy gets angry when I do!"

"Ro-"

"A-and s-she sa-aid l-last time t-that if I ever d-did it ag-ain I w-wouldn't g-get any C-Christmas p-presents" he stuttered, sobbing his heart out.

Troy scooped his son up in his arms, ignoring the wet trousers that clung to his little body.

"Let's get you in the bath shall we? By the time we get you out, I'll have washed your sheets and made your bed and Mommy will never know, okay?"

Rowan nodded, still sobbing too hard to answer.

Running a lukewarm bath, Troy made sure it wasn't too deep before letting Rowan play with his battleship while he went to strip the bed-sheets.

Stuffing them in the washer, he saw the clock and noticed it was 5 past 10, he didn't have long until Gabi was home.

Quickly making his youngest sons bed, Troy scooped Rowan out of the bath, took his new pajamas off the radiator where they were keeping warm, dressed him, let the water drain, plopped him in the bed, promised him he'd fight off any bad monsters that dared come out again, kissed him goodnight, brought the dog into the utility room, got changed out of his multi-stained shirt, ran downstairs to answer the door, paid for the takeaway, dished the food up, lit the candles…just in time for Gabriella to walk through the door.

"I'm home!" she called softly.

Troy rushed through to the front door and grabbed his wife, kissing her full on the lips. Looking after all the kids that night had made him realize exactly how much she did for him.

"How were the kids?"

"Tiring" he confessed.

"Welcome to my world" she joked, "can I smell meatballs?"

Troy grinned and led her through to the dining room, sitting down and sharing the food.

He listened to her talk about her day, watched her eyes light up as she explained a new case she was working on, grinned as she smiled widely when she remembered a joke a colleague had told her, laughed when she dropped a meatball and the sauce splattered onto her face.

"What? You've not stopped staring at me since I got home" she said, breaking a breadstick in half "what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Troy admitted, shaking his head, "I think I'm just falling in love with you all over again"

Gabriella smiled, how much she loved to hear those words from him. 20 years since they first met, married for 16 of them, and she was still as much in love with him as she ever was. Like he said, she was falling in love with him all over again.

"Come on, it's my turn to do something for you now"

She pulled him up the stairs, insisting she'd do the dishes in the morning, and pushed him on the bed. Leaving momentarily to brush her teeth from the garlic and change in the bathroom, she returned…to find Troy curled up on her side of the bed, clutching the pillow to his face…

Fast asleep.

* * *

_3 weeks later_

"Troy!" Gabriella called, shepherding her three sons into the house.

"In here!" he shouted back.

She followed the voice and found him in their bedroom.

"Beau got an A for his family story"

"That's great!"

"Yeah, have you read it?"

"I helped him write it, I had to help him spell Beau's name but yeah" Troy said, he'd got Bella to promise not to say anything. He wanted Gabi to know he was fully capable.

"Take a look"

* * *

_In my family, there is my Mommy, my Daddy, my sister, my brother and my other brother. I was born at the same time as my brother Chase and my other brother Rowan. I have brown hair and brown eyes. I look like my Mom. My Mom has brown curly hair and brown eyes like me. My Dad has yellow hair and blue eyes, like my brothers. My sister is called is Isabella but I call her Izzy. Only I can call her that. Mom and Dad call her Bella but she doesn't like that. She told me it makes her think of the Tweenies. I like the Tweenies. I'm going to ask Santa for a baby brother for Christmas and for him to be called Milo. Milo is my favorite Tweenie. Today my Mom is working. She has a job but I can't remember what it is. My Dad has a sports shop that he runs with Uncle Chad and Uncle Zeke. They aren't really my Uncles but they look after me when Mom and Dad go out. Just like we look after Uncle Zeke and Aunty Pay's kids called Jemma and Wade. Uncle Chad is married to Aunty Taylor but they don't got any kids. They have a bird called Harold. It talks and once Dad got angry because it started saying rude words. Today Mommy is working until bedtime. Dad is looking after us tonight. When Izzy said that the house was messy and Mommy never let it be that way, Dad started getting real sweaty and got a red face. Then he gave us all a mission to do before Mommy got home. It took a long time and then Mommy rang and reminded him about Chase's solar system so he did it with Chase. He didn't have time to write this with me so Izzy said she'd do it. Rowan is washing the dog outside with the hose. My family is busy. I love my family. My Dad said he loves me and Chase and Rowan all the same, even though he helped Chase and Rowan with their homework and not me. My Dad is cool and all my friends like him. I love my Mommy too. She always smells nice and gives me cuddles. When I'm sick she makes me chocolate brownies and lets me lick the spoon. Only I get to do this. I love my sister Izzy. She helps me all the time and looks after me at school. One time when I couldn't find the toilet at school, she found me and showed me. I love Chase. He likes the blue power ranger like me. I love Rowan. He likes the Simpsons. He reminds me of Milhouse. My family is the best. By Beau Bolton, aged 7._

* * *

"Is my hair really yellow?" Troy asked, trying to avoid the obvious question.

"He means blonde…and Troy?"

"Yeah?"

Troy gulped, waiting for her to shout at him for not coping and keeping it a secret from her. Would she be really angry? They said no secrets. They promised each other…

"I think we should stop calling her Bella. I don't want a daughter that reminds me of a tweenie"


End file.
